Abstract
Before the advent of realistic drama, a playwright found no difficulty in having his characters express their inmost thoughts. Shakespeare could write soliloquies for the introspective Hamlet, and Racine could let the spectators in on Phedre's smouldering jealousy by letting her speak directly to them. But the nineteenth-century dramatist who wanted to present a photographic semblance of life on stage had to avoid the soliloquy and the aside. If the rules of the fully developed realistic drama were faithfully adhered to, the spectators had to be thought of as unseen guests, observing what happens on stage but ignored by the people up there. Since the characters onstage could not break through the fourth wall of the set, the viewer had to figure out what was going on in their minds by watching them as they engaged in the ordinary business of daily life, chatted with friends, poured tea, arranged flowers, and passed the time of day.
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